Remember the Milkmen

On March 22, 2022, the storied Alaska Aces/ Milkmen franchise officially disbanded after joining the league in 1986 en route to 14 championships highlighted by the 1996 grand slam.

Photo: abs-cbn.com

As Filipino basketball fans, we were spoiled by the level of excellence, class, and integrity that the Aces franchise displayed at all times under the watch of owner Wilfred Uytengsu. The first chapter featured the uphill climb into greatness headed by Coach Tim Cone, with stars like Jojo Lastimosa, Johnny Abarrientos, Bong Hawkins, and Jeffrey Cariaso, to name a few. When the Grand Slam was achieved, they quickly retooled to further improve their ranks with the addition of Kenneth Duremdes and Rodney Santos. At the turn of the century, they featured names such as Don Allado, Ali Peek, Mike Cortez, and John Arigo.

Rebirth of the Alpha

Natural Born Killer
(Photo credit to PBA.Inquirer.Net)

Thank you Terrence Romeo not only for that sizzling 41-point performance to open the PBA Philippine Cup Semifinals between your lower-seeded Global Port Batang Pier versus the mighty Alaska Aces, but for also bringing back to the hearts of many the role of the Alpha.

Sure, we have seen some 30 and 40-point games from the likes of 2x PBA MVP Junemar Fajardo and the supernatural (that is what we are calling him nowadays) Jayson Castro, but nothing quite like how Romeo did or does it. The willingness to take responsibility and accountability, win or lose. The selfish, bastardly mindset to brush off teammates and just shoot at will. To ignore the offensive sets because he recognizes that he IS the offense.

The Alpha. The Scorer. The Killer.

Apostle's Creed

Batman and Robin?
No, more like Batman and Green Lantern

While 2x PBA Most Valuable Player James Yap continues to hog the limelight for the San Mig Coffee Mixers both on and off the court, this season has been about the continued rise to prominence of Yap's "sidekick," scorer Peter June Simon.

But based on what we've seen so far, Simon is anything BUT a sidekick to Yap. In the Ryan Gregorio years perhaps, but Simon has blossomed into a complete player under Gregorio's replacement, head coach Tim Cone. Cone has done a marvelous job in honing Simon's all-around offensive skills, forcing the Davao City native to play facilitator and even off the ball instead of just waiting his turn on the isolation sets.

Number 19

Hall of Famer

Last night, the Powerade Tigers (who lost 100-102 to the Alaska Aces) retired the jersey of one Kenneth "Captain Marbel" Duremes in a half time ceremony that lacked the superstar fanfare that a player of his caliber deserves.

The Pinoy Michael Jordan (2 of 2)

Here's the second part of this little write-up that has (surprisingly) amassed a couple hundred views since its posting just a few days ago. Hope you enjoy and yes, comments/ rebuttals are most certainly welcome and will not be deleted/ screened.

The style. The hair. The Swag.
Yeah, MC47's Jordan-like.

5. Mark Caguioa (Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings)

Filipinos are a smiling, happy bunch. We celebrate the littlest things, dance to the silliest of songs and laugh to the most awful “Boy Pick-Up” joke known to mankind. The same could be said of our current crop of professional basketball players, that they treat games as such, and are sportsmen first (speaking in terms of majority the majority of course—so that excludes San Beda’s fiery head coach Frankie Lim, and a couple years back, Rain or Shine’s Yeng Guiao). But Caguioa isn’t like most. He’s cut from the same cloth as PBA legends who would literally spit on their opponent’s face, throw elbows and just mean mug fools all game long. This is where MC47 takes after MJ—the swagger, the will to win, the hatred to lose and the enigmatic, kept personality that either wins fans or throws them off. People love MJ for who he is on television. But those who have played with or against him, despise him (if you belong to today’s generation, think Kobe Bryant before his stint with the USA Redeem Team).